Michael B.G. Froman

We just launched our Future of American Strategy initiative. It’s an effort to take a step back and look at the major questions that have been opened over the last couple of years and what happens in the future. How do we think about managing alliances, dealing with adversaries, dealing with global issues like pandemics or climate change or international terrorism? What role is there for American leadership in the world? Take a look. We hope you’ll join us.

Yesterday, I joined Paula Newton on CNN's Quest Means Business, following Netanyahu and Zelenskyy's meetings with President Trump.

Three takeaways:

• The late Sen. Lindsey Graham served as a bridge among the three leaders and a consistent voice for strong U.S. engagement on Ukraine and Israel.

• What a difference a year plus makes. From Zelenskyy’s disastrous meeting in the Oval Office in February 2025 to the warm embrace he received yesterday and at the recent NATO Summit. President Trump likes winners, and Ukraine is increasingly being viewed as one. At the same time, the President’s relationship with Netanyahu has deteriorated from the 12-Day War in June 2025 to now, as the war with Iran continues.

• The two wars are increasingly intertwined: Iran supplies Russia with drones, Russia is reportedly helping Iran target U.S. forces in the region, and Iran is now a shared adversary of both Israel and Ukraine. Both conflicts are straining interceptor stockpiles on all sides.

We just hosted the third annual foreign policy forum with the Rodel Institute at our New York headquarters. Rodel is a rigorously bipartisan fellowship program that brings together state and local elected leaders from both sides of the aisle, making it a natural partner for @CFR_org. Over 400 elected leaders have completed the program and have gone on to serve as U.S. senators, governors, mayors, party leaders, Cabinet secretaries, members of Congress, and Vice President of the United States.

I learned as much from the Rodel fellows as I hope they did from CFR’s experts who provided briefings on U.S. foreign policy strategy, the Middle East, Latin America, China, and the impacts of artificial intelligence. A great weekend all around, with thanks to Rodel’s John Kroger, Lizzy McCourt Noonan, as well as CFR’s own Irina Faskianos and her State and Local Officials Team.

Learn more about CFR’s State and Local Officials work: cfr.org/state-and-local

In February, the Supreme Court struck down President Trump's sweeping IEEPA tariffs. Some celebrated the decision as a check on the president’s penchant for tariffs. Such celebrations were premature at best.

Since then, the United States has imposed a 10% Section 122 tariff (set to expire July 24), opened new Section 232 and 301 investigations, and — just yesterday — announced 50% tariffs on select Canadian goods under Section 338.

Brick by brick, the administration is well on its way toward ensuring that, through a patchwork of investigations, the United States will ultimately have tariffs similar to those imposed under IEEPA .

It remains an open question, however, whether the tariffs are achieving the administration’s objective of reindustrializing, increasing manufacturing’s share, and ideally increasing the number of manufacturing jobs in the U.S. economy.

Read my full column on what to know about Trump's new tarrifs: cfr.org/articles/trump…

From Tom Cruise to Global Citizen to the trophy and awards ceremony, the final FIFA World Cup 2026 match underscored just how well sports translate across borders, cultures, languages and even politics.

I didn’t have a dog in the fight, but I was glad Spain won. Given the challenges Europe faces on security, economics and technology, it was a much needed win.

Congrats, Team USA, for such a good showing. Off to the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil.